Compartment door latch



E. N. JACOBIA COMPARTMENT DOOR LATCH Filed Feb. 20, 1939 July 22, 1941.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Edward N'. JEEDZJI' `July 22, 1941. E N. JAcoBl 2,250,023

COMPARTMIH` DOOR LATCH Filed Feb. 20, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2v Patented July 22, 1941 COMPARTMENT DOOR LATCH Edward N. Jacobi, Milwaukee, wis., assignor to Briggs & Stratton Corporation, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Application February'Zll, 1939, Serial No. 257,435

6 Claims.

This invention relates to door latches, and refers particularly to latches of the type used on glove compartment doors of automobiles.

In general, the latch of this invention comprises a spring pressed hook bolt carried by the door and engageable with an appropriately mounted keeper. Release of the hook bolt from its keeper to permit the door to be opened is effected by mechanism including a depressible lever positioned alongside the `door knob so that the lever and knob may be grasped by the thumb and forenger, as in the copending application of Edward N. Jacobi, Serial No. 207,037, led May 10, 1938, now Patent No. 2,182,589, granted December 5, 1939.

The door latch illustrated in the aforesaid copending application is designed primarly as a locking latch wherein a key controlled cylinder secures the -bolt releasing mechanism against actuation. For cheaper installations, the locking feature is generally omitted, and to further simplify the mechanism and thus permit a lower cost, the present invention has as one of its objects to provide a nonlocking door latch of fewer parts and more readily assembled than latch devices heretofore in use.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved manner yof securing the knob in place, which permits quick application and detachment of the knob so that the attachment of a knob of a color to match the nish of the automobile is greatly facilitated.

Another object of this invention is to provide a manner of securing the knob in place which is so designed that no portion of its mounting mechanism is exposed to view.

More specically, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved manner of fastening the knob which consists in spreading a wedge inside a recess in the knob, which exerts a strong gripping action holding the knob rmly assembled with the latch body and the door.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear `as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described, and more particularly denned by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one complete example of the physical embodiment of the invention constructed in accordance With the best mode so far devised for the practical ape.

plication of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a door latch embodying this invention, illustrating its application to a glove compartment door, and having part of the knob b-roken away and in section;

Figure 2 is a sectional View through the latch mechanism taken on the plane of the line 2-2 in Figure l showing the latch in operative position';

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken through y Figure 2 on the plane of the line 3 3;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the latch body and theparts assembled thereon; and

Figure 5 is a perspective View of the knob per i Se.

' in the cavity.

The bottom of the finishing shell and the cavity have aligned holes 9 and Hl, respectively, through which the front end portion of a latch body, indicated generally by the numeral Il, projects. The latch body Il, which is preferably a die casting, has abutments or shoulders l2 to limit 4forward motion of the body through the openings 9 and l0. Rearward movement of the latch body is prevented by the knob 'l which is secured to the latch body in a manner to be described, with the bottom walls of the cavity and its finishing shell confined therebetween.

Pivoted to the inner end of the latch body which is axially recessed as at Il is a hook-like bolt i4, the hook l5 of which is adapted to engage behind a keeper lli and hold the door panel closed until thehook bolt is swung to a released position.

To pivotally mount the hook bolt, the opposite side walls of the recess Il have ledges l2 proiecting therefrom to provide sockets I3 having their entrances facing the outer end of the latch body.

Pivot pins or trunnions I4 projecting from the opposite sides of the inner end of the hook bolt are engaged in the sockets to pivotally mount the bolt, which is assembled by inserting the inner end of the bolt into the lower inner end of the recess I l past the ledges I2', raising the bolt to align its trunnions with the entrances of the sockets I3', and drawing the bolt rearwardly to engage the trunnions with the bottoms of the sockets.

This manner of mounting the bolt is more fully illustrated in the patent to Edward N. Jacobi, No. 2,172,586, granted September 12, 1939.

The latch bolt is biased to its operative assembled position by a spring I 9 confined between an abutment at the bottom of the recess in the latch body and a portion of the bolt, and the bolt is released by drawing a cam or wedge bar I'I across a shoulder I8 on the hook bolt providing a cam surface engaged by the cam of the wedge bar. The wedge bar II is biased to an inoperative position by a spring 20 confined between a head 2| on the bar and the adjacent Wall of the latch body.

Ihe bar I'I -slides endwise transversely of the bolt in recesses Il formed in the rear of the body at opposite sides of the bolt and opening to the sides and rear of the body, and is drawn across the shoulder I3 of the bolt by means of a lever 22 pivotally connected to the bar, as at 23,

. and having its `outer end portion, which is shaped to facilitate the application of pressure thereon by the thumb, extending through a slot 24 cut in the edges of the holes 9 and I0. The end of the slot 24 remote from the latch body limits movement of the lever away from the latch body, While the sides of the slot 24 guide the lever for movement therein.

In depressing the lever 22 to slide the wedge bar across the shoulder I8, the lever rocks on a fulcrum 25 provided by a lug formed on the lever and positioned to engage the adjacent side wall 26 of the latch body.

This manner of mounting the lock bolt and wedge bar is advantageous as the Wedge bar maintains the trunnions of the hook bolt pressed against the bottoms of their sockets, while the hook bolt maintains the wedge bar in place by virtue of its portion overhanging t-he shoulder l being disposed over the bar to thus constrain the bar to endwise motion in a xed path.

Attachment of the knob 'I to the latch body to hold the entire latch mechanism assembled with the door panel is effected by securing the projecting end portion of the latch body in a socket or recess 21 in the knob. Clearance is provided for the lever 22, and particularly its lug which vprovides the fulcrum about which it rocks, by a slot 28 in the adjacent side of the knob, and to assure the knob being properly assembled with the latch body so that its slot 28 will be in line with the lever 22, the walls of the latch body and the recess 2l are correspondingly stepped.

The securement of the knobto the projecting end of the latch body is effected in an exceedingly simple and practical manner. It is done by means of a wedge in the form of a U-shaped stamping 3d having the extremities of its legs provided with outwardly diverging portions 3| which engage inclined surfaces 32 on the outermost ends of the latch body in such a manner that by moving the wedge rearwardly, a spreading action takes places inside the recess 2'I which securely holds the entire projecting end portion of the latch body in the recess.

To eiiect this spreadingY action, the wedge is propelled rearwardly by means of a screw 33 freely rotatably mounted in a hole 34 in the outer end of the latch body and threaded in the closed end of the wedge stamping.

After assembly of the parts and with the knob I rmly pressed down against the curved bottom of the shell 8 and the latch body rmly held against the back of the cavity bottom wall, forward rotation of the screw 33 by virtue of the support which the latch body gives the head of the screw, quickly and securely locks the parts against displacement.

Proper assembly of the wedge with the latch body is assured by the provision of a projection 35 on the wedge, which, unless it faces lnwardly, precludes the insertion of the latch body into the recess 2'I.

To disassemble the mechanism and permit the replacement of a knob, it is obviously only necessary to loosen the-screw whereupon the wedge is free to be moved forwardly which may be facilitated by a slight pressure on the head of the screw, which frees the knob for withdrawal.

Attention is directed to the fact that with this construction, the holding force applied to the knob is spread over a substantial area to thus preclude the relatively soft material from which the knob is generally made from ilowing or yielding and allowing the knob to loosen.

From the foregoing description taken in connectionV with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent that this invention provides an exceedingly simple door latch mechanism, and that its manner of attaching the knob is particularly advantageous from the standpoint of facilitating the application of knobs of any desired color at the point of installation.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a latch for a movable panel having a hole therethrough a knob adapted to be grasped to facilitate moving said panel; means for readily releasably securing said knob to the panel, comprising, a part projecting through the hole in the panel from back to front; an abutment on said part engageable with the back of the panel to limit outward movement thereof through the hole; said knob having a socket in its inner end in which the projecting end portion of said part is received, said socketI being deep enough to enable the knob to engage rmly against the front face of the panel; and means operable only from in back of the panel and extending into the knob socket for securing the knob to said part.

2. In a latch for amovable panel having a hole therethrough a knob adapted to be grasped to facilitate moving said panel; means for readily releasably securing said knob to the panel, comprising, a part projecting through the hole in the panel from back to iront; an abutment on said part engageable with the back of the panel to limit outward movement thereof through the hole; said knob having a socket in its inner end to receive the projecting end portion of said part, said socket being deep enough to enable the knob to engage firmly against the front face of the panel; a wedge carried by said part inside the socket of the knob adapted upon spreading to grip the knob; and means operable from in back of the panel for actuating said wedge.

3. In a latch for a movable panel having a hole therethrough: a knob adapted to be grasped to facilitate moving said panel; means for readily releasably securing said knob to the panel, comprising, a part projecting through the hole in the panel from back to front; an abutment on said part engageable with the back of the panel to limit outward movement thereof through the hole; said knob having a socket in its inner end to receive the projecting end portion of said part, said socket being deep enough to enable the knob to engage firmly against the front face of the panel; and means for clamping the door between the knob and said part including a wedge inside the knob socket and slidable in an axial direction to grip the interior of the knob by pressing said part against the walls of the socket in the knob, and a screw reacting against the rear of said part and connected with the clamping means for actuating said wedge.

4. Means for securing the body and knob of a door latch together with a part of the door conined between portions of the body and knob, comprising: an end portion on .the body extending into a socket in the knob; a wedge frictionally engaging a wall of the socket and slidable toward said part of the door to press the latch body against a wall of the socket; and a screw reacting against the latch body at the side of the door opposite the knob and connected with the wedge for drawing the'wedge toward said door part.

5. In a latch for a door having a hole therethrough, a latch body projecting through the hole in the door and having a shoulder engaged against the rear of the door to limit outward movement of the latch body through the hole; a hook bolt movably mounted o-n the latch body at the rear of the door and biased to operative position; means for retracting the hook bolt including, a depressible lever projecting through the hole in the door, and connected with the hook bolt so as to move the same to an inoperative position upon depression of the lever; a knob having a socket receiving the projecting front end portion of the latch body to confine the door between the knob and the shoulder on the latch body; and expanding means within the socket of the knob rendered operative from the rear of the door to clamp the latch body to the knob.

6. In a latch for a door having a hole therethrough, a latch body projecting through the hole in the door and having a shoulder engaged against the rear of the door to limit outward movement of the latch body through the hole; a hook bolt movably mounted on the latch body at the rear of-the door and biased to operative position; means for retracting the hook bolt including, a depressible lever projecting through the hole in the door, and connected with the hook bolt so as to move the same to an inoperative position upon depression of the lever; a knob having a socket receiving the projecting front end portion of the latch body to conne the door between the knob and the shoulder on the latch body; and means for securing the projecting front end portion of the latch body to the knob, said means comprising, an inclined surface on the latch body adjacent to a wall of the socket, a wedge adapted to be drawn along said inclined surface into lateral engagement with the wall of the socket, and a screw exposed at the rear of the door and connected with the wedge for actuating the same.

EDWARD N. J ACOBI. 

